A Tale of Two Cities: On Location in Boston and NYC

The all-female Ghostbusters reboot, starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones (it’s also rumored that Cecily Strong may be involved!), is getting ready to start filming in Boston this summer. Fans of the franchise naturally panicked a little at this news. Ghostbusters NOT taking place in New York?!

But don’t worry: the director, Paul Feig, has assured the world that his reboot will in fact be set in NYC. The movie will be filming mostly in Boston, with major exteriors shot in New York (which we can only hope will include the original Ghostbusters firehouse in Tribeca!). He’s taking his cue from the original film, which, according to Feig, was actually filmed mostly in LA despite being set in NYC.

Paul Feig has a recent history of filming in Boston – his buddy cop comedy The Heat filmed there completely, and was also set there with the exception of a couple scenes in the beginning of the movie taking place in New York.

Here are some more films that have used On Location Tour’s two favorite cities as their backdrop.

Ted 2 – The original Ted was filmed completely in Boston, but the sequel, which filmed last summer/fall, filmed in NYC for a few days after shooting the majority of the movie in Boston.

Ted 2 filming outside the New York Public Library

American Hustle – This Oscar-nominated film took place in New York and New Jersey, but the majority of the film was shot in Boston, with only a few days spent filming on location in NYC.

The Departed – This Best Film Oscar-winner, featuring an all-star cast, was set in Boston and filmed primarily on location, but some Brooklyn locations were used as well.

Bride Wars – This female friendship rom-com, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway, took place completely in NYC, but filming was split between New York and Boston.

The Proposal – This Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds rom-com was set in New York and Alaska, and some scenes were filmed on location in NYC. But the Alaska scenes were actually filmed in Massachusetts, which could explain why Boston was used as a stand-in for New York in a few brief scenes.

I Don’t Know How She Does It – This Sarah Jessica Parker rom-com took place in Boston, but only a few scenes were actually shot there. Most of the movie was filmed in New York, passing as Boston.

The Women – This 2008 remake of the 1939 classic was 100% set in NYC, but filming was split between New York and a disguised-as-NYC Boston.
As filming of the Ghostbusters reboot gets underway in Boston and New York, stay tuned to OLT for more news!

______________________________________________________________About the writer: Anjuli has been a TV/movie fangirl for as long as she can remember and a loyal OLTer since she was 16. She loves most television shows, but some of her favorites are Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Blacklist, and Person of Interest. She enjoys tracking down productions on the streets of NYC and probably spends too much time thinking about the lives of fictional characters.